Early settlers in America were puzzled by the Indians' insistence that all gifts be kept in circulation rather than become any one person's property.

Early settlers in America were puzzled by the Indians' insistence that all gifts be kept in circulation rather than become any one person's property. They coined the term "Indian giver- for someone uncouth enough to expect a gift to be returned to its original -owner." The Indians understood that the gift has more than use-value: it can also keep people in relationship with one another, passing from hand to hand, creating social bonds.

The idea that circulation brought benefits to the group as a whole was foreign to the settlers, who treated gifts merely as possessions. Therefore, a settler who received a gift from an Indian effectively took that item out of circulation.